Internal Affairs
by ericaj318
Summary: Civil War AU TSxOC SRxOC Co-written with Kristanella17
1. Chapter 1

"The coffee here is amazing," Freya commented, "We should come here on a non sanctioned work mission sometime," she finished with a wink.

"You're so right. I don't know why the coffee here is so much better than back home," Kendall stated as she took another sip of her drink.

Freya nodded, "We will make a trip over here as soon as we can get a break from all this hard work. Catching bad guys is a full time job," she whispered the last part so no one would know who they were.

"Ladies, focus," the women heard Cap scold over their earpiece.

"Yeah, can you at least pretend to have an eye open for Rumlow?" Sam asked from his post on top of a nearby building.

Freya laughed into her comm, "Sorry guys. You know we get limited missions together. We have seen two large trucks heading toward the East Gate in the last few moments," she revealed.

"That is the exact kind of information we could have used a few minutes ago," Cap replied before directing his attention to Falcon, "Sam, can you fly your drone down and scan those vehicles?"

"On it, Cap," Sam replied as he flew down and got a closer look. Minutes later, he yelled, "It's a decoy!"

The team jumped into action. Freya took one last sip of her coffee before she stood to get into the fight, "Cap, you focus on Rumlow and we'll take care of the rest. Don't let him get what he came for." Freya looked at Kendall, "You ready?"

"You take the east; I got west," Kendall stated hurriedly before the two split up.

While Kendall and Freya were taking out Rumlow's men, Sam caught up with Cap and saw instantly that Rumlow was prepared to take his own life in an explosion just to stop Cap.

"Cap, watch out!" Sam yelled before he flew his drone straight toward Rumlow and guided it to grab the explosive to move away from the scene, but in the process of saving Cap and the crowd watching, the drone flew the bomb straight into the building next to them igniting a fiery burst through a floor in the middle of the structure.

Cap stood and looked at the damage caused by their actions, "Everyone, go in and get out as many survivors as you can."

Freya and Kendall looked up from their positions to see the building in flames and raced that way to help in any way they could.


	2. Chapter 2

"I am so glad we decided to buy a bag of coffee from that shop when we did," Freya stated as she began putting the beans through the grinder to brew the fantastic coffee they'd had on their not so great mission.

"I'm just glad we got it before everything went south," Kendall said with a hint regret lining her voice.

Freya dumped the remainder of her ground beans into the garbage disposal before starting the brew and then looked at Kendall, "Things were not great on that mission. On the plus side, we are about to have some good coffee. How are things going with you and Steve, by the way? I hope I don't make things awkward between you when it comes to us and work," she added at the end with a little guilt from their lack of focus.

Kendall gave a small laugh, "Nah, he's fine. He knows how we get sometimes, so it's good to have him around to keep us on task. He doesn't hold that against us," she confessed with a fond smile, "What about Tony? Does he know you went with us?" she asked curiously.

Freya raised her eyebrows as the coffee machine sounded its completion, "He does not know because he is in this mindset where we need to step back and let the law take care of things instead of swooping in. He'll be fine with it if he finds out though," she semi lied to herself as she poured them each a cup of coffee and brought it over where Kendall was sitting.

Just as Freya sat down next to Kendall on the sofa, the garage door opened and Tony walked in, "Hey Fre, I saw you on the news. Did you miss our chat about the Avengers current situation or did you just not care at all?" he asked, not hesitating at all to say what was on his mind.

Freya shook her head, "I didn't miss our chat but Cap needed a team of four and I was here so I went. Things may have gone badly but we still stopped Rumlow from getting the bioweapons he was after. I'm sorry if my actions upset you but I will always stand by Cap when it comes to helping people. That's why we have these abilities," she replied as Kendall looked away toward the window, trying to act as if she wasn't there anymore.

Tony smirked at Freya's response before he walked into the kitchen to get a cup of coffee, "Who has been putting coffee grounds into the garbage disposal? How many times do I have to find this before it gets fixed?"

Kendall snickered before Freya responded, "That was also me. Looks like I'm not going to be getting the best visit from you this weekend. Speaking of, we didn't expect you so early. Why are you here?" she asked and saw his facial expression change so she quickly added, "I'm so happy you're here because I've missed you."

Before Tony could reply, Steve entered the kitchen, sending a smile toward Kendall, before he addressed Tony, "What brings you upstate?"

"Can't a man just come check on his investments without some sort of ulterior motives?" Tony began before every face in the room answered the question, "Ok, I'm here because the Secretary of Defense is on the way and I wanted to give you a heads up. He has a proposition from the government for the Avengers."

"What kind of proposition?" Steve asked, already in defensive mode, "He isn't coming to congratulate us, I imagine."

Tony shook his head, "No, he's coming to talk about all the damage we cause when we save the world. You aren't going to like it," he finished before he turned his attention to Freya, "Fre, a moment of your time before he gets here?"

Freya gave Kendall a worried glance before she nodded, "Absolutely. Follow me to my room," she said as she stood up, gripping her coffee.

Kendall watched as Steve made his way over to where Freya was previously sitting. "How are you doing?" he asked Kendall, taking a seat next to her on the couch. She gave him a small smile in return.

"I'm ok, I guess. More importantly, how are you?" Kendall countered as she leaned slightly into him, reaching to take one of his hands into hers. Steve let out a sigh as he clutched her hand.

"It's part of the job," he said with his gaze focused downwards, as if he was talking more to himself rather than her. Kendall gently squeezed his hand, motioning for him to look up at her.

"We did the best we could. More people would have died if we hadn't done what we did. You made the right call," she reassured. Steve looked down at their joined hands before looking back up into Kendall's eyes.

"You're right," he said softly as he smiled weakly down at her. Kendall returned his smile with a grin of her own.

"And I'm sorry about the coffee incident with Freya. We don't get to work together a lot," she apologized, feeling a tiny bit guilty about the coffee date with her friend while on the mission.

"I can see why," Steve teased with a slight shoulder nudge causing Kendall to laugh.

"I apologized, Rogers," Kendall countered sternly, with a slight tug of the corner of her lips. Steve's grin grew as he slowly began to fill the gap between them. As his lips were just about to touch Kendall's, they heard a throat being cleared causing the two to quickly pull away from one another.

"Rogers. Cooper," Secretary Ross greeted as Steve and Kendall now stood from their seats.

"Secretary," Steve greeted while Kendall nodded.

Freya walked in to her room with Tony following her, "What's up?" she asked as she sat on her bed and gestured for him to sit next to her.

Tony sat down and looked at her, his expression serious, "When the secretary gets here he is going to shut us down unless we cooperate. I've been trying to get you in a place where you know that sometimes we help and sometimes we don't to get you ready but you still run to every cry for help in the world. If you don't agree to the government's terms, they will force you to retire," he explained.

Fre nodded before she reached up and placed her hand on his face, "Babe, I know that you are under more pressure then the rest of us because you've always dealt with the government but if they don't let me help as I was created to then that is a disservice to the world. You know Steve is never going to agree to this?" she finished.

Tony nodded as he ran his fingers over the bridge of his nose, "I know and I hate that I have to be the bad guy but we do need to be put in check because, like it or not, when we get involved lives are lost too."

Fre wasn't thinking about the secretary anymore as she watched Tony remove his hand from his face with a grimace of pain, "Are you alright?" she asked, her voice conveying her concern as she scooted closer to him.

Tony nodded, "I'm fine. I just have a constant electromagnetic headache from the suit which is why I try to put it on less and less," he admitted.

"You're the smartest man on the planet," she stated before wrapping her arms around his waist and leaning her head onto his chest, "Can you redesign something in the suit to stop that from happening? I know you and I know you don't want to give up being Ironman," she finished before moving one of her hands to his chest over his heartbeat, "The suit kept you alive for a long time."

Tony nodded before he leaned forward and placed a kiss on the top of her head, "I wish I felt better and the secretary wasn't on his way so we could have a proper reunion but for now, this is all we get. I'll check into the suit but ever since I lost JARVIS, it hasn't been the same," he revealed causing Frey's heart to tighten in her chest.

"How long until the secretary gets here?" she asked as she pulled away to lock her eyes with him.

Tony grimaced, "He's late so no time at all," he finished before he stood and reached down for her hand, "We should get back downstairs."

"We will get a proper visit before you head back to the city," she replied, grabbing his hand to go back downstairs for their verbal beating.

The group gathered in the silence of a conference room after the Secretary made his leave. Tony was the first to speak as he pulled out his cell phone, displaying an image of a young boy.

"This is Charles Spencer," Tony began, "he was vacationing in Lagos; not in Vegas, not in Maui, like I would, but volunteering for school in a 3rd world country, and he died due to our 'life saving' measures," he finished seriously, turning to face the group sitting around the table.

"Tony, we can't hold ourselves accountable for every life lost because more would people would be gone if we didn't intervene," Freya began, the first to respond, "But, I am not comfortable with someone telling me when I can and can't help."

"I agree with Freya," Kendall spoke up, "if I see someone in trouble and no one else is around, I have to do something about it. I think we all feel that way," she urged as she looked around at the rest of the group.

"I believe Mr. Stark is saying we can still protect people, but within regulations," Vision corrected. The room remained in a tense silence.

"When is the deadline to sign?" Steve asked as he looked up from the table.

"That's a good point, Cap," Freya added, "I am not going to decide this in one day. I need to seriously think about what's best."

Tony closed his eyes as he listened to his entire team, except for Vision, shoot him down, "Guys, you have until the end of the week. We are signing in Vienna on Friday so if you are in, be there and if not. Consider yourself officially retired."


	3. Chapter 3

The group disbanded and Freya was not surprised to see Tony following her to the workout room, "Is it safe to follow you in there, dear?" he asked.

Freya looked back, "I'm just going to work off some steam and think about all of this. I'm not mad at you so you should be safe," she finished with a quizzical look on her face from his question.

Tony moved faster to get next to her where he slipped his arm around her waist, "Are you going to sign? It would mean a lot to have your support," he said, flashing a charming smile.

Freya pulled herself out of his hold, making her way to the punching bag, before she looked back and replied, "Tony, I'm not sure what I'm going to do. I don't agree with their thought process that we need to be policed. I want to make you happy but this is one of those things where I have to put myself first," she said as she looked over at him to see he was staring back at her with puppy dog eyes, "You can't charm me into this, Babe. I have to do what I think is best and if that means I never fight bad guys again, then so be it."

Tony shrugged before walking toward her to stabilize the bag for her as she got ready to unleash hell on it, "You don't think you could just fight bad guys when you were called. You know that's how most heroes do it. They wait for some sort of signal and then suit up. You'd have some time off and think of all the time we'd have to spend...alone," he teased the last part, making eye contact with her.

Freya huffed before she got in her stance to hit, "I appreciate all that you're trying to do but I will decide by Friday. Also, you probably don't want to hold that bag but if you wanna go up to my room and wait for me, I can get my cardio in with you," she whispered.

Tony's eyebrows raised at her offer as he let go of the punching bag and began to make his way to her room, "I'll be waiting."

Kendall watched as everyone except Steve stood from the table. She waited until everyone was out of the room before she moved over to the seat beside him. He avoided her gaze as he sat lost in thought.

"I know what you're thinking," Kendall whispered to him, redirecting her focus to her lap. Steve's facial features softened as he looked at up her.

"I don't want to be sanctioned by the government. Not after realizing how deep Hydra can infiltrate. It's just too risky," Steve confided as he scooted his chair closer to Kendall. She nodded in agreement before looking back up at him.

"I agree, but I don't see any other way around this, Steve," she said softly, reaching over to lightly rest one of her hands on top of his forearm. He instinctively lifted a hand to rest on top of hers. "Maybe if we agree to sign, after following their sanctions for a few months they will see we're actually trying and they'll give us back the reins," Kendall thought aloud. Steve's brows furrowed in disbelief.

"That's not freedom, Kendall. Do you want to be told when you can use your powers and when you have to walk away? Who are they to decide that? It's not fair to you, or to any of us," Steve countered as he began to trail his fingertips across the back of her hand. Kendall looked down at their joined hands. She sighed deeply in defeat.

"I'll support whatever you decision you choose," she confessed as she gave him a reassuring smile.

"Why did we let Sam go ahead of us to be our voice until we got there?" Freya asked as they took off on Tony's plane to the signing in Vienna.

"Someone had to take the lead and I had meetings until the last minute," Tony replied, pouring himself a scotch, "Cap, I'm glad you decided to join us," he added as he looked over at Steve.

"I'm still undecided, Tony. I'm here right now to show we're still unified no matter what the decision comes to," Steve answered, holding up a hand to decline a drink offer from Tony.

"You know, I bet Sam is doing a great job," Kendall said quickly, wanting to diffusion any possible conflict between the two men.

"How long is the flight?" Freya asked, as Tony turned to her with a drink, "I need to know how long I have to sober up if I say yes."

Tony smirked at her question before he answered, "The flight is six hours so you have plenty of time if you start right now," he finished as he poured her drink without waiting on an official response.

Freya shook her head as she took her drink from him and watched as Tony directed the bottle at Kendall.

Kendall gratefully accepted the drink, "This is going to be a long six hours," she mumbled before taking a sip of her drink.

After everyone was settled into their seats, the pilot came on the intercom, "We're two hours out from our destination."

Freya perked up at the pilot's announcement and stood from her seat, "I'm going to freshen up before we land. Kendall, wanna join me? We don't want to sign smelling like 50 year old alcoholic men."

Kendall nodded, standing up from her seat next to Steve. "Let's go," she agreed before following Freya to the washroom.

They were getting ready and touching up their makeup when Tony was knocking on the door, "Ladies, you need to come back out here."

Freya could sense a hint of panic in his voice but she wanted to test her theory, "We'll be done in five minutes. Can you wait?" she yelled through the door.

"No, not even thirty seconds," he replied with annoyance as Kendall opened the door so they could see what Tony wanted.

Tony gestured for the two of them to follow him back to their seats where Steve was standing up, waiting on them.

"What's going on?" Kendall asked as she saw the look on Steve's face.

Tony took over the explanation before Steve could answer, "It appears the building where the signing was going to happen has been bombed. We don't know the status of our people yet but we do know that the Winter Soldier has come out of hiding and he did this. As soon as we land, we have to asses the damage."

Kendall rushed over to Steve, "Are you sure it was Bucky?" she asked, her voice filled with concern. Before Steve could answer Kendall turned back to Tony, "Did anyone see him? Who is saying he did this?" she asked in a panic. Steve gently took hold of Kendall's forearm as he tried to calm her down.

"We don't have much to go on, but I know Bucky didn't do this," Steve said confidently, answering Kendall's question before looking up at Tony. "I have to find him."

"We are going to let the authorities handle this," Tony replied, his tone firm, "The whole point of this was to stop us from meddling everytime and if you go after Barnes, the mess will be much bigger."

Steve glared, but remained silent as he turned his back to Tony.


	4. Chapter 4

The plane touched down in Vienna shortly after the news was revealed, Tony took Freya with him to speak with the Ugandan prince while Steve and Kendall headed to the scene to look for survivors.

While surveying the scene, Steven and Kendall ran across Sam. "Sam!" Kendall called out causing him to turn around and rush over to his friends.

"Sam, what happened? Did you see Bucky?" Steve asked with a hint of panic in his voice. Sam shook his head.

"No, not in person. But the media is showing video evidence of him being at the site right before the explosion," Sam stated before looking over his shoulder and leaning in closer to Steve and Kendall, "I might have been able to hack into a few places, and I've discovered the from the most credible source Bucky's last sighting was in Berlin," he quietly informed. Steve's lips pursed in thought as he contemplated the new information.

"Then what are we doing waiting around here? We need to get to Berlin before Tony gets wind of this," Kendall stated as she looked back and forth between the two men. Steve smiled proudly at her.

"Suit up," he ordered.

Just as they were about to depart, Kendall looked up to see Freya running their way. "Where are you guys going?" Freya yelled, "Tony is busy and I want to help because the King wants Bucky's head."

As Tony and Freya walked to the hotel where the Prince was being kept safe, she looked at Tony, "Don't you think you were a little hard on Steve back there? You know Barnes means so much to him and you shut him down without even a conversation. If Barnes sees Steve coming, he may be more willing," she commented, nervous for the first time sharing her differing opinion with Tony.

Tony stopped in his tracks and looked down at her, "Fre, I am going to need you to be just a little bit supportive now because this is officially a cluster. I can't worry about what Steve needs when there is a chance none of us will ever be able to be ourselves again. Can you cut me just a little bit of slack?" he finished and let out a large sigh, his shoulders tense from the stress.

Freya, immediately, felt badly for how she acted and she nodded, "I'm so sorry. This is just really hard because we're all so close. I will do whatever you need me to. Ok?"

Tony nodded gratefully, "Let's go see how the Prince is doing since Barnes actions robbed him of his Father."

Freya was not keen on visiting a mourning Prince who had just become King in the worst way possible but she followed Tony, grabbing a firm hold of his hand as they walked.

They arrived and saw the Prince, his suit covered in dust, "King T'Challa, I am so sorry for you loss. My team is here to do anything we can to catch the man who did this. Are there any leads?" Tony asked, jumping straight in.

"Nothing yet," T'Challa replied, "We have every intelligence network on the planet looking for him and when we find him, I won't need anyone's help because he is mine," he intimidated.

Freya was frightened by he intensity of his threat as she looked up to Tony, hoping he would say something in Bucky's defense but Tony simply nodded as he sat down and began discussing other matters with the King. Freya sat down next to Tony and found her cell had no service so she couldn't warn Kendall and Steve. She looked over at Tony and noticed how deep in thought he was with the King so she slowly got up and made her way to the wreckage in hopes to find the others.


	5. Chapter 5

They arrived in Berlin and based on Sam's intel, the group placed themselves strategically around Bucky's apartment. Falcon took the roof, Kendall and Freya took a stairwell above and below, while Cap went inside to try and do this without a fight.

"Cap, SWAT is here and you are down to less then five minutes to make this work," Falcon announced over their comm system.

Freya took a deep breath as she realized that she was going to have to fight off Tony's men to buy more time, "Kendall, we're going to request a cell together after this, right?"

"You know Tony's going to give you something a little more extravagant," Kendall responded as she kept an eye out.

"I will be breaking his biggest rule currently so there is no way I get out of this with a slap on the wrist but I like your positive attitude," Freya replied, "Maybe he'll at least let me have one more cup of good coffee before I go away."

"As usual," Falcon said, "Can you two please focus on the task at hand. You two are about to be under attack."

Before Freya or Kendall could respond, they were both on alert from the sound of footsteps coming up and down the stairs.

Kendall held up her hands in a defensive stance as she watched men dressed in SWAT gear rushing up the stairwell. Without a second thought, she used her ice powers to freeze the stairs. Most of the men began to trip and slide without making any advancement, but a smart few clung to the railing as they pulled themselves closer to her.

"You don't want to do that," Kendall warned, still holding her hands out in front of her, but the men didn't listen. Taking a deep breath, Kendall formed an ice sickle in her hand and threw it hitting the closest man in the leg. Letting out a scream, the man fell backwards causing a domino effect. Within the next few seconds, Kendall ducked down as she heard a smash of glass then Freya's voice over the comm.

Freya looked above her and saw the soldiers coming down the stairs in her direction. She immediately got into her fighting stance and took out each soldier as they got closer. None of them used their guns because they all knew Tony would have their jobs. Freya continued to move further up the stairs, taking out more and more men when she caught a glimpse out the window of the building and she saw Bucky hurling himself across the building to another rooftop.

Freya sighed as she spoke to Kendall, "Can you handle these guys? Bucky made a break for it and I am not letting him get away," she warned before she barreled through the glass window and leaped across after him.

She landed right after Bucky and stood just as he was getting his bearings, "Barnes, don't make me fight you. You won't win and it'll be embarrassing," she warned, looking back to see Cap preparing to make the jump.

Bucky's lips curled into a cocky grin, "I have an arm made of vibranium so I think you're selling yourself a little high," he finished with a laugh getting ready to turn and run.

Freya smiled back, "I warned you," she stated before lunging forward.

Bucky stopped and raised his arm to take the brunt of her hit but to his surprise, it didn't stop her attack and he was on the ground.

"Are you sure you don't want to just turn yourself in?" she asked once more.

Bucky shook his head as he stood to take her on again, the sound of Cap's shield hitting the concrete behind them to let them know he'd arrived. Freya leaped forward, kicking her leg out as she did so, landing her kick straight into Bucky's temple causing him to collapse onto the ground, unconscious.

"Cap, have Sam take him somewhere remote and I will buy you time with Tony by turning myself into the SWAT team," Freya suggested once Cap was with her, "Kendall, make the jump over here."

Kendall rushed to the roof, freezing the door behind her to make sure no one was able to follow. She ran to the edge, quickly using her powers to create an ice bridge so she could make her way to the next rooftop where the rest of the team waited.

Sam landed with them and Freya went into her orders, "Sam, you take him. Cap, you get Kendall as far away from here as you can. I am going back over to turn myself in. Once you find out why someone framed Bucky for that attack, call me on a burner phone and then I'll let Tony in on the plan. Understood?" she asked.

The team nodded before jumping into action while Freya waited until she was alone before heading back to accept her fate.

Freya rode in the back of a SWAT vehicle to a Government facility where she knew a furious Tony would be waiting. She was not looking forward to their reunion as she sat in her handcuffs. Once the van she was in arrived, the men opened the door and pulled her out to lead her to Tony.

"You don't have to be so rough, guys," she commented, "I can pull apart these cuffs and escape if I want to so there's no need to try and act tough."

She didn't get a comment out of them as she walked to an elevator where they took it down to the bottom floor. The elevator doors opened to reveal Tony on the other side, talking on his cell phone.

He held up a finger to the guards to wait there before he instructed them further. Moments later, Tony was free, "Uncuff her and leave her with me, please."

The guards exchanged unhappy glances before they released Freya. She walked cautiously forward to Tony, awaiting her verbal beating.

"Do you have an explanation for your actions? Anything that doesn't involve breaking my trust and helping a killer escape custody?" Tony asked, leading her into a closed conference room.

Freya thought for a moment, searching for any words to use that wouldn't hurt him but she needed to buy time, "Bucky wasn't there. Your soldiers attacked us and we defended ourselves. I turned myself in so they could continue the search," she partially lied.

"My men tell a different story and it involves you attacking first," he retaliated, looking for her to tell the truth.

"They're just testing you to see if you'll let me go without punishment by making it sound worse because we're dating," she casually quipped, "But, I'm telling you the real story and if you don't believe me then lock me up."

Tony sighed as he sat down, running his hands through his hair, "Fre, I don't want to punish you but you're not leaving me much choice. The King wants to kill Barnes and he gave me 72 hours to find him first but after that, I can't help him. If you know anything, you need to tell me before this turns into a bloodbath. Work with me," he pleaded.

Freya sat silently for a moment before she spoke again, making sure to choose her words wisely. "This isn't about you or me but I have told you the truth and that's all I can offer. I'm sorry, Tony," she said, her tone filled with sadness that wasn't fake.

Tony shook his head, "I have to lock you up because you've committed a felony based on the new laws. I'll come get you out in a few hours and we can try this again. Don't let this come between us."

Freya held her hands out for handcuffs, "It won't. Nothing you can do will change my story. I was trained in circumstances that would make your skin crawl. Call your guards and I will see you soon," she stated before looking at him fondly as she heard the guards coming, "I still love you."


	6. Chapter 6

"You still haven't told me where we're going," Kendall said worriedly as Steve led her through a crowded street. The two had already taken a taxi a few hours away from their previous location. Steve had told Sam the place to meet them, but kept it a secret from Kendall. He gave her hand a light squeeze.

"Trust me," he said simply as the two made their way off the street into a darkened alley. Letting go of Kendall's hand, Steve walked over to a door of a boarded up warehouse. He grabbed one of the nailed boards and pulled it off with ease before turning back to Kendall. "After you," he said simply, waving his hand for her to come over. Kendall gave him a reluctant look before walking over to the sketchy entrance.

The two made their way into the building to find Sam already there with Bucky tied up to a support beam. "About time you two showed up," Sam greeted, "he's been going in and out of consciousness since we got here," he explained as he motioned to Bucky who was awake at that moment. Kendall watched silently as Steve approached Bucky and began to question him.

Bucky was able to answer all of Steve's questions without hesitation, and it seemed like he was the same Bucky Steve had always known.

"So we're supposed to be cool, just like that?" Sam asked causing Kendall to snicker. She walked over to Steve, standing in front of Bucky.

"What I don't get is, if you were in Berlin the whole time how did they get you on video at the site of the bombing?" she questioned, truly wanting to solve the mystery.

"I think it was somebody who dressed like me," Bucky answered, "but that's not the worst of it. When activated, there are multiple soldiers just like me. The same person with the queue words to activate the other Winter Soldiers must be behind the bombing," he reasoned. Kendall looked up at Steve who was intently watching his friend as he spoke.

"Do you know where these other soldiers are located?" Steve asked as he began to pace back and forth. Bucky nodded.

Kendall stopped Steve's pacing by placing her hand on his bicep, "We need to call Freya. If these Winter Soldiers are activated we're going to have a bigger problem on our hands than those stupid accords," she noted worriedly. Steve nodded in agreement.

"Let's just hope Tony will listen to reason," he replied softly before motioning for Kendall to make the call.

Freya sat in her cell, a new feeling of guilt beginning from the peace she felt. After some time had passed, the door opened and Tony walked in, "Are you ready to be more cooperative?" he asked as she took a seat on the floor next to her.

"I'm ready to tell you the exact same thing I told you before which means you're probably not going to stay for very long," she replied, looking at the ground.

"Why are you making this so hard?" Tony said, exacerbated, "I listened to what you said about being too hard on Steve and I made a deal with the King so that Bucky wouldn't be killed on sight. I am budging on all my principles but you haven't made any progress in the other direction. I am trying my damndest to help so help me do this," he said, his voice not yelling but not calm either.

She looked at him, finally, her eyes tender, "I know you feel betrayed and I know it seems like I am helping others while hurting you but I am just doing my best to take care of everyone for the time being. Soon, I'll be able to tell you more but until then you're going to have to accept my story. Your men attacked us and we acted in self defense," she repeated again.

Tony groaned as he pushed himself off the floor to stand, "Fre, you are not making this easy for me. And, don't pretend you're helping everyone because you're only helping Rogers and Barnes. I'll be back again in another few hours."

Just as Tony was about walk out of her cell, his phone rang, "Stark," he answered.

Kendall waited patiently for Tony to answer his phone. "Stark," he answered shortly.

"Tony, we need to talk," Kendall said urgently.

"Oh we need to talk?" Tony replied, "Now, someone wants to talk. You guys got Fre locked up and she's convinced she's doing the right thing so sure, let's have a little chat. What's up, Agent?" he snapped, alerting Freya to know that her team had reached out.

"Listen, I know you're upset, but you have to believe me when I tell you Bucky was not the one to blow up that building. Someone is trying to frame him. They want him because he has the activation words to unleash more Winter Soldiers," Kendall said hurriedly, wanting to get out all her information before Tony began yelling at her again.

Tony sighed deeply on the phone before he responded, "Do you have any proof of this other then the word of a mass murderer?"

Kendall paused for a moment before answering, "Not really, but if you just hear him out-" she countered only to be cutoff.

"Hear him out?" Tony began, "Do you even hear yourself, Cooper? You need to bring Barnes to me so that we can settle things with the King and then we can worry about this crazy story he's telling. That is a direct order."

Kendall looked around the room at her teammates, unsure of how to answer Tony's demands. "Tell him to meet us in Moscow," Bucky spoke up. Kendall gave him an unsure look before looking at Cap for confirmation. Steve nodded.

"Tony, if you want him you're going to have to come get him. We'll meet you in Moscow. Don't forget to bring Freya," Kendall said shortly before hanging up the phone.

Tony looked at the phone in disbelief before looking down to see Freya attempting to suppress a grin. She liked seeing him a little unhinged when he didn't have control. "Get up, Jackson. We're going to Moscow," he stated as she got up to follow him.


	7. Chapter 7

Tony and Freya arrived in Moscow where Kendall had told them to be and they found an old factory type structure. "This doesn't look creepy at all," Freya said sarcastically as they moved forward.

"You're still in trouble so no comments from you," he replied.

Freya huffed as she followed him through the elaborate tunnels down to the bottom level where they found Steve, Kendall and Bucky waiting for them.

Tony looked around the room and noticed the cryogenic tubes with people inside and closed his eyes and he realized they were right but before anyone could say anything, a voice took over the room.

"I'm glad you all made it," the voice said, "I was concerned because my plan was interrupted by your capable heroes but now we're all here together and I can show you my true purpose to bringing you here. I don't want to wake the soldiers and have more abominations like Barnes."

Steve interrupted him, "Then why did you bring us here?"

"I was getting to that," he replied, "Take a look at the screen before you. An army that falls together can be rebuilt but one that falls apart from the inside is forever damaged," he finished eerily as a video began to play.

They watched for a moment before Tony was the first to comment, "I know that street. What is this?"

Freya and Kendall exchanged worried glances as the video continued playing. What they saw was unlike anything they could have predicted. The man was making Tony watch as Bucky murdered his parents during his time as the Winter Soldier.

When it ended, Tony looked at Steve, his face showing how emotionally shook he was, "Did you know?"

Steve stared in silence as he thought of how to answer the question. "I knew," he barely whispered, "But I kept it for your own good," he finished firmly.

Tony shook his head, "No, you kept it from me for your own good and for his own good," he pointed at Bucky before his mask covered his face in his Iron Man suit and he attacked Bucky with Steve jumping in the way.

Kendall quickly grabbed Bucky's arm, pulling him out of Tony's direction. "We need to get you out of here," she ordered as she motioned for Freya to follow. "I'm going to need your help," Kendall called to her friend.

Freya wanted to intervene with Steve and Tony but she knew Bucky was their first priority as she raced to Kendall to help get him to safety. "Up is the quickest but he'll be a target the whole way," she began, "He should go back the way we came in. What do you think?"

"Let's go," Kendall quickly replied as the three rushed Bucky to safety. As they made their way down the tunnels, they could hear the ongoing battle between Cap and Iron Man.

Once they had Bucky out of sight, Kendall and Freya moved back to the lab where the fight was intensifying. "How are we going to stop them before they kill each other?" Freya asked.

"I'll freeze Tony's beams, you try to stop Steve's shield," Kendall answered as she worriedly watched the two men beating each other to near death.

Freya took a deep breath, "That shield is going to be a challenge but I can handle it."

They raced forward into the battle, "Guys enough! This isn't going to solve anything!" they yelled together, hoping to break up the fight without physical interference.

The men continued as if the women weren't there at all. Kendall gave Freya a sad look before she raised her hands to unleash a cold breeze onto Tony's powers.

Freya nodded back as she moved around to the other side, ready to put herself between Cap's shield and Tony.

Iron Man raised his hands, backing up to get a clear shot at Cap with his lasers and just as he unleashed them, Kendall thrust forward a wave of ice freezing his lasers and causing them to slope downward, icing the concrete. Tony was shocked as his feet caught the icy ground causing him to lose his balance and crash onto the concrete.

Cap was rearing back his shield to repel Tony's lasers but now Tony was on the ice, vulnerable. Cap had too much force to stop the blow but Freya leaped down on top of Tony before the shied could reach him and stopped it with her hands. She had so much force in her barrier that Cap was thrown backwards onto the snow.

Kendall raced forward to Cap before he could get up again while Freya stayed on top of Tony, neutralizing him as well.

"This needs to end," Kendall ordered firmly as she rested her hand on Steve's shoulder. Steve looked up at her with his bruised and bloodied face. "You're going to kill each other if this doesn't stop. I know you want to protect Bucky, and I will do anything in my power to help you do that, but you can't hurt Tony anymore," she finished, her voice growing steadily softer with each word.

Freya looked down at Tony and spoke softly, "I know I've given you a lot of reasons over the past few days not to trust me but I did it all for the good of us as a team. You are giving that man exactly what he wants and that will bring an end to the Avengers," she began, "I know you're hurting but what Bucky did was not his fault because he was under the control of Hydra. Don't let your friends become your enemies," she urged, placing her hand gently on his cheek, her heart breaking as she saw the bruises forming on his face.

From the other side of the room, Kendall helped Steve stand on his feet. "We need to discuss this at Avengers headquarters," she offered, wanting to resolve the situation in some sort of peaceful manner. Freya also helped Tony stand.

"I agree," she said, looking at Tony, "this is internal business and it needs to be resolved back home. Can you two call a truce until we get back?"

Tony and Steve looked at each other, their bitterness from the last few days still visible but also a look of understanding as well.

"I can," Steve agreed to which Tony nodded.

The End


End file.
